Girl Pilot

(based on “A Wish for Wings” by Robert Swindells)

“Hi Mam, hi Dad.” Jenna marched through the door, took off her boots, and stomped into the living room of her house.

She glanced around. “Where’s Ned?” she asked, before she realised that it was a Wednesday afternoon and Ned was at cricket.

“Cricket, Jen. He’s at cricket,” Dad muttered, flipping through the boring newspaper.

“Hmph. I knew that. Will he be home soon?”

“Soon,” Mum replied, just as the door swung open to reveal the sweaty, obnoxious face of Jenna’s older brother, Ned.

“Hi Mam! Hi Jenny!” Ned called, grinning. Jenna shoved past him without a word.

“You came home early!” Mum laughed, ignoring her daughter. “Now come on, sit and have some snacks.”

They all sat together at the table, and there was a pause before Mum asked Jenna: 

“How was Grandad’s house yesterday?”

“Fine. We talked about… planes!” Jenna’s eyes shone. “Planes are my new fav thing.”

Dad frowned. “Planes, or piloting a plane?’

“I wanna be a pilot, Dad.”

Mum rolled her eyes. “First art, then golf, then tennis, then cricket, then swimming, then crochet (I would’ve wanted her to continue), now this? This won’t last long, lovey.” She laughed nervously.

“Oh, but it’ll last longer than my other ‘crazy’ ideas, Mam,” Jenna replied resolutely, crossing her arms. “I do wanna fly a plane.”

“Piloting is no fun. You’ll get bored eventually, Jen,” Dad said, his eyes still on his newspaper. Jenna narrowed her eyes; obviously her dad didn’t take her seriously.

“Will not.”

“You will.”

“Will NOT!”

“You will, Jenna dear. Mark my words, you will,” Dad answered. Mum nodded, clearly agreeing with her husband.

For the (possibly) first time in her life, Jenna turned to Ned for help. Ned made eye contact and then immediately exploded with laughter.

“You? A pilot?” he chortled. “Why, I’ve seen more dogs pretendin’ to be cats than girl pilots! You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me!”

“Why can’t girls be pilots?”

“Why? ‘Cause you’ll be lookin’ more at yourself than the clouds and sky outside the plane window! You’ll crash!” 

“Well, I won’t be lookin’ at any blimmin’ mirror, Ned!” Jenna retorted.

Dad interrupted their argument. “Tell me, Jen. Why do you want to be a pilot so much?”

Jenna thought about it. “Hmm… well… I like the freedom of bein’ up in the air, and lookin’ at the clouds really helps me think–”

Ned butted in: “Piloting ain’t for girls, Jenny.”

“It is. And don’t call me Jenny!” Jenna yelped.

Mum stood up and so did Dad. “Y’know,” she said, “I actually agree with Ned and your father, that piloting isn’t for girls. ‘Specially not you, Jen. You’re an active girl for your age! It’s quite boring, darling, and sitting upright and driving a plane for six hours isn’t the right thing for you. You’ll be easily distracted, dear. How about crochet, dear? That would be an easier thing to do than this impossible dream–”

BANG! Jenna slammed her chair into the wall as she stood up, her face contorting with rage.

“Fine! If you won’t let me be a pilot, then I’ll do it– myself. And,” she added, as she walked out the front door, “Grandad supports me, so I’ll be the best girl pilot the world’s ever seen! No thanks to you!”